10th Grade College Planning
Students
To Do:
- Meet with your school counselor or mentor to discuss colleges and their requirements.
- Consider taking a practice Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) or the PLAN exam.
- Plan to use your summer wisely: Work, volunteer, or take a summer course (away or at a local college).
- Log on to your MyFSA account at www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov/myfsa and try the Career Finder, or look at your career search results. Then include the recommend majors from the search as you use the College Matching Wizard on the site to the find schools that might be a good fit with your interests and goals.
To Explore:
- Learn the differences between giants, loans, work-study, and scholarships at www.college.gov (click on “how to pay”)
Parents
To Do:
- Review “Every Year in High School”
- Find out whether your child’s school has college nights or financial aid nights. Plan to attend those events with your child.
- Help your child develop independence by encouraging him or her to take responsibility for balancing homework with any other activities or a part-time job.
- Learn about the standardized tests your child will be taking during 10th through 12th grades: the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests. (www.collegeboard.com) or ACT (www.act.org).
- Get a brief overview of financial aid from “Financial Aid and Scholarships for College” section at www.ed.gov/parents.
Source: "College Preparation Checklist" Pamphlet from www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov